Google, Microsoft, Sun to fund new Internet lab

Thursday, December 15th 2005, 11:22 am

By: News On 6

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Two high-tech rivals are setting aside their differences to back a new Internet research laboratory aimed to help entrepreneurs come up with more groundbreaking ideas.

Google and Microsoft are joining together to back the new lab opening today that backers hope will help launch another revolutionary company like online auctioneer eBay, or even Google.

Sun Microsystems -- which is involved in partnership with Google but was involved in patent infringement lawsuits with Microsoft -- is also taking part in the project.

Called the Reliable, Adaptive and Distributed Systems, or RAD for short, the lab will plans on developing Web-based software services that will be given away to anyone who wants it.

The lab will initially be staffed by six UC Berkeley faculty members and ten computer science graduates.